Spoilers The Falcon and Winter Soldier discussion

Phase 4 continues...



We've barely had a chance to process the conclusion of WandaVision and the new chapter of the MCU is already here. I look forward to learning more about Sam Wilson and his backstory. The banter between Sam and Bucky in Civil War priceless and I look forward to more.

 

TVGuide review of the pilot (a few minor spoilers discussing a few plot elements, including time and setting). The headline sums it up: "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Review: Quintessentially Marvel Premiere Sets Up Potentially Deep Buddy Comedy".

 

I wish Don Cheadle hadn't spoiled that he was appearing. Interesting background for Sam and his family and I like his sister. Bucky being haunted by his past was intriguing and my heart broke when we discovered the secret of Yori's son. Not really much to say about the story at this point as this episode was mostly about just catching this up with our main characters since Endgame. Hopefully, things will a little more exciting when Sam and Bucky actually get together. Not that I don't enjoy the character stuff, because I do, but I understand why they led the episode off with an action sequence, because it was the only one in the entire episode. And the introduction of John Walker at the end of the episode was well done.

 

Can't wait - this is quintessential MCU and what made them so popular. Wandavision was interesting if a bit uneven ( the finale was a bit of a letdown after the awesome buildup, at least for me) but this is the formula that i love.

Is there any word on runtime per episode or will they pull a Wandavision and have a third of it be credits?

Edit:

Nevermind - it is up on Disney+ and runtime is standard 42 minutes apparently + a few minutes of credits. Damn - i have about 7 hours of work left before i can watch it!

 

Intriguing!

I wasn't quite as drawn in as with WandaVision's first episode, though that would be because WV was such a fascinating mystery right off the bat. By the end, though, with the new Captain America, I need next Friday now, please.

I like how both men are struggling to fit into their new lives, though I found Bucky's story a little more heartbreaking than Sam's, though I like all of the characters enough.

 

It was good. I don't have anything critical to say about it. I'm not as excited about it as Wandavision and I'm still processing last night's 4 hours of Justice League.

 

A strong start for the series and I greatly appreciate the show took a whole episode to quietly reintroduce Sam and Bucky with their own individual storylines with little fanfare. Smart choice to open up the series with an action sequences for the Falcon before delving into those character pieces.

I especially loved seeing the show focus on Bucky's mental health and what it means for a man to be both 107 years old and recovering from decades-long brainwashing as an assassin. The conversation between him and his therapist was a thoughtful study into what Bucky is experiencing and how he's trying to make amends for his past actions. Not just dealing with former shady characters he helped gain power, but also trying to make peace for the innocent lives he killed, both for himself and the families he effected.

Sam's storyline was a bit more straightforward but also a necessary one. It's great to learn more about his family and upbringing and I'm grateful the show isn't shying away from the racial issues that effect them. And that's even before the gut punch of the American government taking Captain America's shield and giving it to some white guy, instead of asking Sam to take on the mantle (even thought we knew it was coming, it still hurts). Based on what been said prior to today's premiere, the show intends to lean heavily into that aspect and that's something I'm really looking forward to because it's been somewhat absent in the MCU aside from Black Panther.

Good set-up with the Flag Smashers and some obvious misdirection about their leadership. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them and how they intend to enact their goal of a borderless world.

Loved seeing Rhodey pop-up and I, too, wish it had been kept a surprise. I liked how the camera kept focusing on him during Sam's speech about mourning the loss of a great man and it's clear that Rhodey was also thinking of Tony and what he did. I don't expect to see Rhodey to show up again but I hope I'm wrong.

 

I liked it.
It was a good setup episode taking its time to explore where the characters are and what motivates them (or not in Bucky’s case) to get through the day.
It’s also the first time existential consequences from being blipped for five years are being explored.
Of course with that many people being gone for years the remainers needed to adapt somehow and dropping the lost ones back into existence is bound to cause resource problems.
It created the situation Thanos was claiming to fix.

Bucky’s story was indeed heartbreaking to the point where I was kinda angry about how the writers can be so cruel to him.
Kill the son of one of your best friends under mind control as collateral damage?
It was completely believable how he couldn’t face those demons (at least not yet).

 

I did appreciate how when the old man was talking about his dead son and we see Bucky's sad look, they didn't feel the need to flashback to him killing his son again. Treated viewers as intelligent enough to connect the dots.

 

Since it's just the pilot episode no one knows the details of the show but there is a precedent in the comics, when Cap laid down the title (and Shield) of Captain America in protest of the government, which didn't behave according to his moral code and what he understood to be american values.

For a while he changed his name to Nomad ( and i also believe The Patriot), got a replacement shield and uniformand continued the fight until he went back to being Captain America.

I was under impression that Bucky sought out the dad of his victim and befriended him out of guilt, it would be too much of a coincidence that one collateral murder should be the son of a friend ( not that the Winter Soldier would have had any active friends while he was controlled by Hydra or the Soviets).
We saw the name of the dad of his victim in his little notebook at the top indicating he was part of his rehabilitation program and that sooner or later he would have to come clean with him ( that should be one hell of a scene).

I really like the MCU approach and idea behind the TV/Streaming shows - it gives them time to explore characters more fully, for which the movies simply don't have the time.
It's good that they are starting to flesh out the secondary characters and giving them more backstory on top of some nice action and humor.

Very good start to the show and i'm curious how capable the new guy actually is or if he's just a propaganda tool with no real skills ( unlike Steve who had the skills but was initially sidelined as a propaganda tool).

 

Forgot to mention another part of the show I'm already loving: It's addressing head on the psychological, sociological, and economical effects of the five-year gap the Blip had on the world, for both those who survived and for those who died and then returned. While Far From Home did address this to a degree, it only scratched on the surface. I'm really looking forward to this show dig deeper into all of those issues. After Engame, I worried that the MCU might just try to brush past all of that because that would be the easy way, but I'm thrilled that I was wrong to worry.

Yup, that's how I read that situation, too. I far prefer it this way because it shows that Bucky is gong out of his way to make amends on an emotional to those he hurt.

 

Is that so? I assumed it was the guy here on the left ( don't remember his name) and they talked about the rest of their war buddies all dying before the young age of ninety.


Edit: But it appear I was wrong about that. My brain was connecting dots that were not really there, it seems.

 

The 90 remark was made about what Yori was reading in the newspaper.

 

Maybe I should watch it again with subtitles then

 

I felt the same having come off the same properties. The opening set piece was pretty decent but the rest just didn't really spark. It wasn't bad per se but I wasn't really "feeling it".

 

I'm wondering how long John Walker is going to be factoring into the story. We haven't even seen any of the scenes with Sam practicing with the shield that we saw in the trailers and he is already giving it up. We haven't seen any action sequences with Walker in the previews, just his introduction at the football stadium. We know that Zemo is going to be anti superhero, I wonder if there will be an assassination at that football Stadium?

 

This was a great start to the series, the stuff with Batroc a the beginning was cool, and the rest of the character stuff was nice too. I liked getting to see Sam's family and learn more about his background.
It was nice to see them addressing how damaged everything that Buck has been through has made him. The reveal of why he befriended Yuri was a big surprise.
I hadn't heard about Rhodey being in it, so his appearance was another surprise.
I'm curious where the scenes with Sam practicing with the shield they had in the trailers are.
We also got some interesting set up for the Flag Smashers.

 

For all we know, those scenes of Falcon with the Shield might actually be the last scenes of the show and Marvel spoiled it for us without anyone the wiser.

 

Wouldn't be the first time they've done that. Backlit Dr. Strange slowly walking up the stairs in the Sanctum Sanctorum was the final (pre-credits) shot of the film. The moment with Wanda and Vision wildly flailing their upper bodies with fixed feet turned out to be one of the final scenes of the penultimate episode. Both of those moments were heavily featured in their respective trailers.